한 때 먹튀 논란에 휩싸였던 하이디스가 회생의 길로 접어들고 있다.
당장 이번 달부터 하이디스는 전자종이 디스플레이 제조를 시작으로 재가동에 들어갈 것으로 보인다.
하이디스 관계자들에 따르면, 이번 계약은 연말까지 진행될 것으로 보이며, 구조조정 이후 처음인 만큼 중요한 의미를 지닌다고 밝혔다.
그들은 "회사나 직원 모두에게 굉장히 중요한 계약이고 우리는 해낼 자신이 있다,"며 포부를 밝혔다.
전자종이는 하이디스 모기업인 대만계 기업 E-Ink 홀딩스의 핵심 기술로 이번에 하이디스측에 전수된 것으로 보인다.
아직은 회사의 이천 공장이 가동전이지만, 곧 업무가 시작될 것으로 관계자들은 내다봤다.
E-Ink측도 코리아헤럴드와의 통화에서 “하이디스 생산성을 높이기 위해 다각도로 노력중”이라고 밝혔다.
하지만 구체적인 사항에 대해서는 하이디스 경영진이 알고 있을 것이라며 즉답을 회피했다.
하이디스는 비록 규모는 크지 않지만 예전 중국계 BOE가 “먹고 버린” 기업으로, 그 이후 2008년도에 E-Ink가 인수할 당시 또 다시 먹튀 논란의 대상으로 떠올랐다.
당시 하이디스는 자금부족 등의 이유로 공장가동이 멈추고 고객이 하나 둘 떨어져 나갔다. 한 때 LG는 물론, 삼성 최초의 태블릿과도 계약을 맺는 등 잘나가던 디스플레이업체였던 만큼 더욱 고달픈 시기였다.
최근 5월30일부로 마무리된 구조조정의 일환으로 직원의 절반이상이 희망퇴직을 했지만, 하이디스는 모기업의 약속과 새로운 사업을 등에 업고 다시 재기를 시도하고 있다고 관계자들은 전했다.
(코리아 헤럴드 김지현 기자)
<관련 영문 기사>
Hydis gathers ammunition with e-paper displays
Hydis Technologies is not what one would call a big company, but for Korea, it has a symbolic meaning. It was one of the firms that foreign capital gobbled up, only to spit out after stripping it of vital assets and technology.
Now, Hydis, owned by Taiwan-based E Ink Holdings, is out to get back on the map with the production of e-paper displays, the main element for e-books.
Starting in July, Hydis expects to start rolling out electronic paper displays, an area that E Ink is a global leader in.
Hydis officials said the contract is expected to extend to December.
“These displays are next-generation displays, and our technology is sufficient,” said one official, speaking anonymously.
Rollable displays also are in discussion, but that needs to be seen, as Hydis currently lacks the right equipment and capital.
Hydis was formerly a unit under Hyundai Electronics, the precursor to SK Hynix. It once supplied some of the big fish in the industry, such as Samsung and LG.
Prior to the acquisition by E Ink, Hydis had been exploited by China-based BOE Display, which bought Hydis from Hyundai, only to feed its technology to BOE’s Chinese operations.
E Ink initially appeared to have similar plans as it was reticent to make big investments, but both Hydis and E Ink claim that the only plans they have are to get the Gyeonggi Province-based display manufacturer back on track.
“The turnaround plan is aimed to optimally resize the company so that it can focus manufacturing on existing industrial products and explore other new high-margin niche opportunities,” the Hydis management said in a statement to The Korea Herald.
The management added that the focus now will be on high-margin industrial products, such as panels used in applications for medical equipment, avionics and automobiles.
The restructuring itself was painful as it involved letting go of more than half of the workforce, which at one point reached nearly 1,000.
There are now fewer than 400 employees, but those who left are said to have departed in peace, as they were offered an acceptable retirement package.
The restructuring was completed as of May 30.
The plants at Icheon are not yet running, but employees hope they can reactivate them by July, when the EPD orders go in.
“We are trying to optimize and rationalize productivity,” said Oscar Huang, a spokesperson for E Ink in Taiwan.
He also said he knew of the restructuring, but was not aware of the details, saying E Ink chose to leave those up to the Hydis management in Korea.
E Ink acquired Hydis in 2008. Prior, it was named PVI.
As the pioneer in electrophoretic displays used in gadgets like the Amazon Kindle, PVI also merged with E Ink, which is where it got its name.
E Ink is known for having only a small assembly line of its own, choosing to make money mainly from licensing deals.
By Kim Ji-hyun (jemmie@heraldcorp.com)
